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Monday, December 3, 2012

Pho Pasteur, Parramatta

When you ask where is the best place for Pho, Parramatta will not be the first suburb that comes into mind. Despite that, they have quite a few Vietnamese restaurants including two under the Pho Pasteur brand. Back in my uni days, Pho Pasteur at Haymarket has been a regular place to eat in between and after lectures/tutes. The newer, glossier branch is located at Westfield near Nando's while the original Parramatta branch lies a bit further on the quieter side of Church Street. This review focuses on the latter.

Despite the availability of two Pho Pasteur restaurants in close proximity, the old-school branch with retro-style décor still gets very packed throughout the day. In fact when I got in, there was at no seats available bar a small table near the back. Yay!

Clockwise from top: Vietnamese mint, Bean sprouts, lemon, chilli

Digged into the small bowl of rare beef noodle soup ($10.50). Even a small bowl is filling enough for one person to eat. The rice noodles were thick and well-cooked and the generous portions of beef were tender to my liking. In fact, it's the tender and soft beef at Pho Pasteur that brings me back to its many branches across Sydney and the one at Parramatta is no different. Always enjoyable to have with a side of bean sprouts, Vietnamese mint and a touch of lemon to lift the taste of the broth. Another thing that I did like is the big slices of onions clustered on top of the beef as they do have a nice bite even when cooked. With all of these flavours, I cleaned up the bowl pretty quickly.

Rare beef noodle soup ($10.50/$11.50)

The soya bean milk (sua dau nanh) is always a great refreshing drink to have after a hot meal.

Soya bean milk

While the decor may look old-fashioned if you are used to extravagant restaurant layouts, what is more important is whether the food is satisfying. And you can't go wrong with the pho here. Great place for a cheap and quick meal that will get you full.